MSU Athletics

THE RUNDOWN
PUEBLO, Colo. – Midwestern State erased an 18-point second half deficit to take a brief lead before falling to Arkansas-Fort Smith, 88-74, in Friday night's season opener in the CSU-Pueblo Conference Challenge at Massari Arena.
 
The Mustangs close the challenge Saturday night with a matchup against Rogers State, which fell 84-65 to host CSU-Pueblo in the later game. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (Central Time).
 
UA-Fort Smith which is ranked 19th in Basketball Times, extended a 12-point halftime edge to 18 early in the second half before the Mustangs responded with runs of 7-0 and 7-2 to trim the lead to 54-44 on Brandon Neel's 3-pointer at the 12:31 mark of the second half.
 
Then senior guard Devante Pullum and junior forward Wanaah Bail ignited the Mustangs by scoring all put two of the team's points during a 17-1 culminating in consecutive transition layups by Pullum to give MSU a 61-57  advantage with 8:57 to play.
 
Overall, MSU outscored the Lions 31-9 over a 7 1/2-minute stretch to seize momentum.
 
It was short-lived as UA-Fort Smith answered with a 15-2 run of its own to push the lead back to double figures on DaVaunta Thomas' triple with 1:57 to go for an 82-70 lead.
 
Sophomore guard Logan Hicks connected on three 3-pointers to grab MSU team-high honors with 19 points, while Pullum added 15 points with three assists and Nick Powell pitched in 11 points and five rebounds off of the bench.
 
Kyree Elder scored 24 points to lead UA-Fort Smith, while Ladarius Coleman notched a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
 
NOTES
- Midwestern State dipped to 50-22 in season openers. The loss was a first in seven lid lifters with Nelson Haggerty as head coach.
- The Mustangs slipped to 2-6 when allowing the opposition to 50-percent or better from the field since the start of last season. Dating back to last season, UAFS (51.8) is the third consecutive opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor versus MSU.
- Sophomore guard Logan Hicks matched a career high with 19 points. It was in fifth career game in nine tries to score 10-or-more points.
- Senior Devante Pullum scored in double figures for the 10th time in his career finishing with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
- Senior forward Nick Powell notched his sixth career double-figure performance with 11 points and five rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State takes on Rogers State (Okla.) Saturday afternoon at the CSU-Pueblo Conference Challenge. Tipoff from Massari Arena is set for 6 p.m. (Central Time).